Caribou Open Houses – impacting northwest Alberta communities

May 23, 2017 — Fort Vermilion, AB — Community members are encouraged to provide feedback on protection proposals for the area’s threatened Woodland Caribou.

The municipal Northwest Species at Risk (NWSAR) committee is creating a proposal to balance the protection of Woodland Caribou while also urging the federal and provincial governments to consider local impacts when implementing a Woodland Caribou recovery strategy.

The committee is hosting Open Houses as an opportunity for community members to provide their input. Participants can partake in mapping exercises and data discussions and provide input from a northwest stakeholder perspective.

“We don’t want this proposal to be developed from solely a municipal perspective, we want all our community’s voices included,” said Lisa Wardley, Chair of the Northwest Species at Risk Committee and Deputy Reeve of Mackenzie County.

“We will then take all of the information we have gathered, including the suggestions and concerns from these Open Houses and revise our proposal, ready for presentation to the provincial and federal governments in June,” said Wardley.

The municipal NWSAR committee wants to ensure that local input is included in both the provincial and federal government’s plans. The committee has been collecting information and ideas on how best to balance the protection of Woodland Caribou with the social and economic interests of the community.

The County of Northern Lights Office, Manning, AB from 4:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 25.

Woodland Caribou are designated as a threatened species under federal and provincial legislation. Both levels of government require recovery strategies to protect these caribou.

The Government of Alberta initiated planning for caribou recovery last June. Since then, the Northwest Species at Risk Committee formed to ensure local views are considered as the provincial and federal governments make plans to protect Woodland Caribou.

The Northwest Species at Risk Committee is comprised of municipal councillors from Mackenzie County, County of Northern Lights, Town of High Level, Town of Rainbow Lake, Clear Hills County and Town of Manning. The goal of the Northwest Species at Risk Committee is to ensure local voices are heard when a provincial and national approach is implemented to protect the Woodland Caribou. The committee wants to see the adoption of practical solutions for caribou recovery that also considers the social and economic futures of the region.